Yotes want papers on Reinsdorf talks

Citing confidentiality, NHL won't discuss negotiations with Reinsdorf

by Craig Harris - May. 12, 2009 09:45 PMThe Arizona Republic

Along with fighting over who controls the bankrupt Coyotes, the team and NHL are squabbling over the disclosure of a possible league-brokered deal to sell the franchise to Chicago sports-team owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

The Coyotes this week asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Redfield Baum to force the NHL to turn over documents on negotiations with Reinsdorf and other suitors. The Coyotes also want documents on talks the league had with Glendale, where the team plays its home games, regarding a sale to Reinsdorf.

The league on Tuesday objected, saying in court documents that "premature disclosure of confidential discussions will jeopardize value" for the league and the team's creditors. The city said a confidentiality agreement with the NHL prevents officials from discussing the issue.

A hearing on the demands is set for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in downtown Phoenix. , That's the same day Baum is scheduled to hear who controls the team -the key point in whether the bankruptcy case will continue.

Meanwhile, fans hoping to keep the team have rescheduled a 10 a.m. rally Saturday. It will be at the Native New Yorker restaurant, 7273 N. 95th Ave. in Glendale, after Westgate City Center, which former Coyotes owner Steve Ellman developed, refused to allow it because of its possible "political nature."

The NHL on Tuesday said owner Jerry Moyes has no right to "harass the league" with demands that might prove unnecessary until it's determined who controls the team.

The league contends that Moyes did not have authority to place the Coyotes into bankruptcy May 5, when he also agreed to sell the team for $212.5 million to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie, who wants to move the franchise to Hamilton, Ontario.

Tom Salerno, a bankruptcy attorney for the Coyotes, said the NHL doesn't want to disclose its potential deal with Reinsdorf, who owns the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls, because he believes it's less than what Balsillie is offering.

The day Moyes sought bankruptcy protection, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly were in the Valley working on a deal to sell the team to Reinsdorf and a group of investors. Reinsdorf has a home in Paradise Valley, and his White Sox this spring began training at a new complex that Glendale built. Reinsdorf could not be reached.

The league has said Moyes gave up his right to run the Coyotes in November 2008, when the NHL started financing the team after Moyes had refused to keep covering financial losses. An attorney for Moyes, who has invested more than $300 million in the Coyotes, said the NHL had only "voting rights" and operating agreements allowed Moyes to file for bankruptcy and sell the team.